This article would be much more informative if it told us more about categories of pills (or diseases), how frequently they are taken, and the ages of the peopl

This article would be much more informative if it told us more about categories of pills (or diseases), how frequently they are taken, and the ages of the people who take them. Almost half the US population has hypertension [0], and 19 million have stage 2 hypertension -- those people should be on drugs. Each year, 800,000 Americans have a stroke, and another 800,000 have a heart attack -- these people should be on drugs. My doctor's office has me on more than 5 drugs, but I only take 2 regularly -- the others are for specific short term conditions (e.g. poison ivy). In general, statins, aspirin, and anti-hypertension drugs cost effectively save lives. I have no doubt that there are too many people who take too many pills, but there are also too many people who should be taking medication and are not. The article does not make a strong case that, for a given age group, we are being over medicated. [0] https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/facts.htm https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/facts.htm